For the first time I saw Raju Da in UMA (Utkal Music Association) in Tikra Para, Balangir. UMA was one of the early orchestra groups in Orissa which had some GREAT MUSICIANS of that time like ‘Shankar Pradhan’ (Guitarist), Lalit Bhindora (Singing Mukesh songs), Ms. Shivani etc etc.

That time Saroj Nanda (Raju Da) was learning Dholak, then ‘Accordian’. He also used to perform on stage, the popular number of ‘Nikah’ i.e. ‘Dil ke armA Ansu Mein Beh Gaye’ – the audience were spell bound by his mimic singing in female-voiceover (originally sung by ‘Salma Agha’)

In due course, he groomed some good musicians and singers for the Baptist Church, College Chowck, Balangir. The group used to perform religious songs and had recorded some of the beautiful liturgical numbers written by Philimon Bagh, College Chowck, Balangir composed by Raju Da (although those were not recorded in any professional Recording Studio – had GREAT QUALITY).

Later, he went to Cuttack for struggling as a Professional Musician. One of his old friends; Shri Ashok Mahapatra supported him as a financier for various Oriya audio albums, released by JE Company, Cuttack. He also composed many Oriya Bhajan albums for T-Series, dubbed by Anuradha Paudhwal – most of such albums became SUPER HIT. And, people started recognising ‘Saroj Nanda’ across Orissa.

I must mention one interesting fact that ‘ADIMATA’ (Maa Samleshawari Bhajan in Sambalpuri – sung by Anuradha Paudhwal) was originally composed by Saroj Nanda for Legendary ‘LATA MANGESHKAR’ – but Lata Jee couldn’t devout sufficient time for dubbing. It was a long-cherished dream of Raju Da.

By that time all the music works were done at JE Studio, Cuttack. Lately, he realised that some of his compositions were stolen unauthorizedly from the floor (studio) itself, before the final release of the songs.

Then, he shifted his camp to ‘Voice Master Studio’, Bhubaneswar. He used to call me to sing the cues while music tracks were made for Suresh Wadekar, Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan and other popular singers. Once the music tracks were mastered, the songs were dubbed by the intended singers at Mumbai. It was a pleasure working with him.

Alcoholism was his darkest side which I have seen too closely. While once camped at Mumbai for some dubbing work, he had a massive cardiac stroke and he passed away. The vacuum created in the Oriya Music World after his demise is yet to be filled.